Tagore's the Home and the World: a Call for a New World Order David W. Atkinson, University of Saskatchewan

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Tagore's the Home and the World: a Call for a New World Order David W. Atkinson, University of Saskatchewan Tagore's The Home and the World: A Call for a New World Order David W. Atkinson, University of Saskatchewan While the world has moved away from the brink of nuclear war, the contin­ ued instability of the Middle East and the breakup of the Soviet empire have given rise to the ethnic nationalism that has once more become a justification for repres­ sion and war. It is with a profound sense of déjà vu, then, that one can turn back to Rabindranath Tagore, who, writing on the last day of the nineteenth century, speaks with tremendous resonance to us today concerning the blindness of na­ tional ambition: "The last sun of the century sets amidst the blood-red clouds of the West and the whirlwind of hatred./The naked passion of self-love of Nations, in its drunken delirium of greed, is dancing to the clash of steel and the howling verses of vengeance."1 Tagore's fear of this "naked passion of self-love of Nations" figures in everything he wrote on the dangers of mass action, nationalism, and the modern nation state. This is especially true of his novel, The Home and the World, which, set in the context of Lord Curzon's partition of Bengal in 1905, is at once an indictment of the extremist thinking that motivates nationalist sentiments and a celebration of the humanism which constitutes the bedrock for Tagore's new in­ ternational order. The Home and the World has not received especially kind treatment from the critics; perhaps most damning is George Lukacs's characterization of the novel as "a petit bourgeois yarn of the shoddiest kind."2 It is true the novel has its short­ comings: it gets dangerously close at times to political allegory, and its characters, especially the radical leader Sandip, are exaggerated and one-dimensional. At the same time, the novel has a staunch defender in Anita Desai, who, while admitting that it is too often weighed down with ponderous rhetoric, praises its "flashes of light and colour" and its "touches of tenderness and childishness."3 Despite the literary shortcomings of 77K Home and the World, it is an impor­ tant work for understanding Tagore's views on the dangers of political extremism. The novel focuses on the swadesM movement in Bengal, which demanded an exclu­ sive reliance on Indian-made goods, and a rejection of all foreign-made products. Tagore's representation of swadeshi typifies his attitude towards any sort of or­ ganized political activity as something over which one has little, if any, control. Swadeshi is described in The Home and the World as "a flood, breaking down the dykes and sweeping all our prudence and fear before it."4 1 Rabindranath Tagore, "The Sunset of the Century," in Nationalism (1917; rpt. Westport: Greenwood, 1973) 157. 2 Quoted in Anita Desai, "Introduction," The Home and Ike World, trans. Surendranath Tagore (1915; rpt. London: Penguin, 1985), p. 7. ^DesailZ * Tagore, The Home and the World, 26. All subsequent references to this work are inserted parenthetically into the text Tagore's The Home and the World 95 The novel focuses on three characters, each of whom speaks in the first-per­ son in recounting how they interact with one another. Nikhil is Bimala's husband; Sandip is Bimala's would-be lover. Nikhil epitomizes the unselfish, progressive husband who wishes to free his wife from the oppressiveness of a traditional In­ dian marriage. In contrast, Sandip is a man who thinks only of himself, and who reduces man-woman relationships to brazen sexuality; he is interested in "blunt things, bluntly put, without any finicking niceness" (85). Bimala is represented as an innocent who, at least initially, is completely subservient to her husband. But Bimala is also much more than this. She is referred to as Durga, the female goddess of creation and destruction, and as Shakli, the ultimate female principle underpin­ ning reality. In being so described, she represents the beauty, vitality, and glory of Bengal. The struggle between Nikhil and Sandip for Bimala is, then, a battle for the future of Bengal, as they represent two opposing visions for Bengal. Nikhil is the enlightened humanist who asserts that truth cannot be imposed; freedom is neces­ sary for choice, and is critical to individual growth and fulfillment. It is this free­ dom which he insists is necessary if he and Bimala are truly to know one another. While Nikhil, like Tagore himself, initially supports swadeshi, he recognizes the value of the "outside world," and he looks to serve a greater cause than mere na­ tional interest. "I am willing," he insists, "to serve my country, but my worship I re­ serve for Right which is far greater than my country. To worship my country as a god is to bring a curse upon it" (29). Sandip represents himself as a realist, one who brutally confronts the world. He criticizes Nikhil for how "he delights in a misty vision of this world" (57). Sandip describes those who share his views as "iconoclasts of metre" (57). He and his fellow iconoclasts are "the flesh-eaters of the world; we have teeth and nails; we pursue and grab and tear" (47). For Sandip, the end justifies the means, and he argues that virtually any human action can be excused if the stakes are suffi­ ciently high. This is the only fundamental principle of existence. "Nature surren­ ders herself," he indicates, 'ï>ut only to the robber. For she delights in this forceful desire" (45). Ostensibly, Nikhil and Sandip share the same goal: freedom from oppression. Where they differ is in their understanding of freedom and in how this freedom is to be realized. For Nikhil, to be motivated by concern for nation is self-destruc­ tive. 'To tyrannize for the country," he says, "is to tyrannize over the country" (109). By contrast, Sandip stops at nothing to achieve his ends, as he stresses that "whenever an individual or nation becomes incapable of perpetrating injustice it is swept into the dust-bin of the world" (79). The complete irrelevance of moral standards characterizes his relationship with everyone in the novel, including Bimala, whom he reduces to stealing for him from her husband. Sandip finds justi­ fication for his actions in history. Life, he says, is "indefinite—a bundle of contra­ dictions," and humankind's aim is to "strive to give it a particular shape" {79). In Sandip's world, there is no place for religious idealism, and there are no higher purposes than those humankind creates. For Nikhil, however, it is not that the world is chaos; rather, each individual is given the freedom and the opportunity to participate in the limitless creativity of 96 The International Fiction Review 20.2 (1993) the world. 'Providence," he remarks, "leaves our life moulded in the rough—its ob­ ject being that we ourselves should put the finishing touches, shaping it into its fi­ nal form to our taste" (197). This understanding of the world allows one to cele­ brate the world's possibilities. Sandip, however, sees such idealism as mere "intel­ lectual foppery" motivated by the desire "to mystify things" (60). It ignores the pas­ sion that is the true motivating force behind change; passion "is the street lamp which guides us. To call it untrue is as hopeless as to expect to see better by pluck­ ing out our natural eyes" (60). But passion uncontrolled is destructive. Nikhil does not reject passion, but he understands that uncontrolled passion destroys every­ thing in its path; as he says, "I accept the truth of passion... only when I recognize the truth of restraint" (60). This is obvious in his relationship with Bimala, which is characterized by a strong undertow of sensuality, but never to the extent that it becomes obtrusive. The same can be said of Nikhil's love of country, which is im­ portant only as it allows for the freedom and growth of each individual. This con­ trasts with Sandip, who reduces sensuality to unfeeling sexuality, and love of country to destructive anarchy. Sandip is not, however, an unintelligent or unaware man, and it is this which makes him especially frightening. Sandip, for example, knows that Nikhil is a man of principle; of their relationship, he says, 'Then again there is Nikhil. Crank though he be, laugh at him as I may, I cannot get rid of the idea that he is my friend. At first I gave no thought to his point of view, but of late it has begun to shame and hurt me" (83). Sandip recognizes the flaws in his own thinking. Rather than con­ front these flaws, however, he perversely chooses to ignore them; the external pressure of mass action thereby sweeps aside any sense of moral consciousness. This single-mindedness is brutally revealed when Sandip equates his intention of seducing Bimala away from her husband with his intention of stripping away all vestiges of the old moral and political order. What is also frightening about Sandip is his extremism, his belief that every­ thing of the old order must be destroyed for a new order to take its place, and his assumption that the power which he represents is unstoppable. This is reaffirmed by the speed with which events in the novel tumble one on top of the other: the boycotting of schools, the burning of foreign cloth, the destruction of graineries, and the forced participation of Muslims in the Hindu-dominated svmdeshi move­ ment. Thus Tagore stresses the dangers of mass action: once started, it is impossi­ ble to stop.
Recommended publications
  • The 157Th Birthday of Rabindranath COMMEMORATING Tagore, Nobel
    Assembly Resolution No. 1257 BY: M. of A. Fernandez COMMEMORATING the 157th Birthday of Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Laureate of India on Monday May 7, 2018, in New York City WHEREAS, The true architects of society and community are those extraordinary individuals whose faith and unremitting commitment have served to sustain the spiritual and cultural values of life; Rabindranath Tagore, the first Nobel Laureate of Asia was undoubtedly such an individual; and WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commemorate the 157th Birthday of Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Laureate of India on Monday, May 7, 2018, in New York City; and WHEREAS, Born on May 7, 1861, in Calcutta, India, Rabindranath Tagore was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new religious sect in 19th Century Bengal; and WHEREAS, Rabindranath Tagore was an Indian/Bengali poet, philosopher, novelist, visual artist, playwright, composer and Indian public figure; his works transformed Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries; through his works he vigorously influenced the development of Bengali as a literary language, elevating its poetry with new forms and meters; and WHEREAS, Rabindranath Tagore was educated at home; at age 17, he was sent abroad to England for formal schooling, but he did not complete his studies there; and WHEREAS, In his mature years, in addition to his many-sided literary activities, Rabindranath Tagore
    [Show full text]
  • The Character of Bimala in Tagore's the Home and the World Bimala Is
    The character of Bimala in Tagore’s The Home and the World Bimala is a rare portrayal of womanhood by Rabindranath Tagore because unlike the other female characters in Indian literature, there are two sides of Bimala. She is obligated to serve her husband and take care of the household. Yet, she is also willing to overstep these boundaries to speak out for her people. This fact is what makes her a positive representation of women in The Home and the World. Bimala in Tagore’s The Home and the World is perhaps the liveliest character of the story. She is the centre of action as well as attraction of the novel. She emblematizes love amid the fire and fury of politics, and her psychological intricacy contributes much in making Tagore's novel an interesting study. Tagore's Bimala is not a paragon of beauty. She herself admits in the course of the novel that, she had a dark complexion and lacked physical beauty. Yet she was fortunate enough to get married into the Zamindar's house. Bimala was married to Nikhil because of some good astrological signs in her and it was predicted that she would turn out to be an ideal wife. Truly Bimala's conjugal life with Nikhil was happy and blissful. She was fortunate too, to have an ideal, loving husband who unlike his brothers was not authoritarian. She could have from Nikhil not only sincere love but earnest help to make herself a cultivated, advanced modern woman. Arrangements were made for her English training under one European woman, Miss Gilby, and that was quite surprising in an old, conservative family.
    [Show full text]
  • Reading Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali: Meanings for Our Troubled, Pandemic Stricken Times
    ISSN 25820427 (Online) Special Issue No. 1 March, 2021 A bi-lingual peer reviewed academic journal http://www.ensembledrms.in Article Type: Research Article Article Ref. No.: 20113000443RF https://doi.org/10.37948/ensemble-2021-sp1-a016 (RE)READING RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S GITANJALI: MEANINGS FOR OUR TROUBLED, PANDEMIC STRICKEN TIMES Tapashree Ghosh1 Abstract: The COVID 19 pandemic is far from over. The second wave of the virus is already adversely affecting counties such as England, France, Germany, and the USA. In India, people are suffering from the widespread impact of this disease for the last nine months. It has deeply affected our life, livelihood, health, economy, environment, and mental health. This grim scenario is not only specific to our country but can be witnessed globally. At this critical juncture, literature is extremely important as it can lift us from the nadir of depression and the abyss of nothingness. Hence, while critically engaging with the sub-theme ‘Pandemic and Literature’ we should not limit our studies to texts dealing with crises, pandemics and apocalypse. We must broaden our perspective to include texts that can emotionally heal us and generate feelings of positivity, faith, strength, and peace. Hence, this paper re-reads Tagore’s Gitanjali from the present position of being sufferers of a global crisis. The text is timeless and our contemporary. It contains Tagore’s deep engagement with philosophy and spirituality. We should re-read it and fetch newer meanings relevant to our present context. It is relevant and a necessary read for both ‘the home and the world’. Article History: Submitted on 30 Nov 2020 | Accepted on 9 February 2021| Published online on 17 April 2021 Keywords: Anxiety, Death, Fear, Heal, Spirituality, Peace, Salutation, Strength “The mind is very restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate, O Krishna.
    [Show full text]
  • The Home and the World in Mansfield Park and Ghare Baire
    116 The Home and the World in Mansfield Park and Ghare Baire. Gillian Dooley Abstract Although widely separated by time, language, country and culture, Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (1815) and Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World (1916) share some enduring themes. The concepts of home, or a quiet secluded life in the country, and world, or the busy social life of the city and town, are set into opposition in Mansfield Park more markedly than any of Austen’s other novels. Without wishing to strain the comparison, one could conceive of Tagore’s ‘eternal triangle’ of Nikhil, Bimala and Sandip as having some equivalence to the triangle in Mansfield Park of Fanny, Edmund and Mary Crawford. Nikhil, like Fanny, adheres to a well-defined internal ethical compass, while Sandip and Mary share an amoral, modern approach to the world. The characters of Bimala and Edmund are drawn away from Nikhil and Fanny respectively by the (largely sexual) temptations of the more modern view. There are, of course, huge problems with schema of this sort, and my interest lies as much with the differences between the novels as the similarities. However, taking this basic scheme as the starting point, I wish to examine how the forms in which the two authors were writing – Austen in comedy, Tagore in tragedy – are reflected in the construction of the respective narratives, and how the two writers use point of view either to reinforce or to undercut the conventions of these forms. ------------------------------------------------------------- Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park and Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World1 are both serious, thoughtful novels on enduring human themes, and are at the same time works very much of their own respective times and settings.
    [Show full text]
  • Elective English - III DENG202
    Elective English - III DENG202 ELECTIVE ENGLISH—III Copyright © 2014, Shraddha Singh All rights reserved Produced & Printed by EXCEL BOOKS PRIVATE LIMITED A-45, Naraina, Phase-I, New Delhi-110028 for Lovely Professional University Phagwara SYLLABUS Elective English—III Objectives: To introduce the student to the development and growth of various trends and movements in England and its society. To make students analyze poems critically. To improve students' knowledge of literary terminology. Sr. Content No. 1 The Linguist by Geetashree Chatterjee 2 A Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe 3 Chitra by Rabindranath Tagore 4 Ode to the West Wind by P.B.Shelly. The Vendor of Sweets by R.K. Narayan 5 How Much Land does a Man Need by Leo Tolstoy 6 The Agony of Win by Malavika Roy Singh 7 Love Lives Beyond the Tomb by John Clare. The Traveller’s story of a Terribly Strange Bed by Wilkie Collins 8 Beggarly Heart by Rabindranath Tagore 9 Next Sunday by R.K. Narayan 10 A Lickpenny Lover by O’ Henry CONTENTS Unit 1: The Linguist by Geetashree Chatterjee 1 Unit 2: A Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe 7 Unit 3: Chitra by Rabindranath Tagore 21 Unit 4: Ode to the West Wind by P B Shelley 34 Unit 5: The Vendor of Sweets by R K Narayan 52 Unit 6: How Much Land does a Man Need by Leo Tolstoy 71 Unit 7: The Agony of Win by Malavika Roy Singh 84 Unit 8: Love Lives beyond the Tomb by John Clare 90 Unit 9: The Traveller's Story of a Terribly Strange Bed by Wilkie Collins 104 Unit 10: Beggarly Heart by Rabindranath Tagore 123 Unit 11: Next Sunday by
    [Show full text]
  • Partition of Bengal, Swadeshi Movement and the Role of Rabindranath Tagore
    Quest Journals Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science Volume 7 ~ Issue 1 (2019)pp.:37-42 ISSN(Online):2321-9467 www.questjournals.org Research Paper Partition of Bengal, Swadeshi Movement and the Role of Rabindranath Tagore Priyanka Mitra Research Scholar, Department of English, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India ABSTRACT: In the history of colonial India an event of crucial importance was the Partition of Bengal in 1905 by the British government. Against this injustice and oppression a furious sedition upsurged among the national people but the government remained impervious to every appeal, plead and protest. The unamenable decision of government escalated the open hostility which culminated into Boycott resolution and the formal proclamation of Swadeshi Movement. The great poet-philosopher,Rabindranath Tagore initially joined the movement, delivering lectures and composing patriotic songs. But being an ardent worshipper of humanism and Ahimsa or non-violence, he found it difficult to accept the atrocities perpetrated by the nationalists which gradually turned the blazing fire of protest against partition into embers. So Tagore dissociated himself from the movement which was viewed by many of his critics as an act of betrayal. But his response to such criticism was fictionally articulated in his political novels where he firmly asserted that patriotism should always be centred around humanity. KEYWORDS: boycott, partition, protest, Rabindranath Tagore, swadeshi Received 26 January, 2019; Accepted 09 February, 2019 © the Author(S) 2019. Published With Open Access At www.Questjournals.Org. I. INTRODUCTION From the vantage point of 21st century it is evident that the British Empire was the largest formal empire that invaded, annexed, occupied, divided and colonized various parts of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Language in India
    LANGUAGE IN INDIA Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow Volume 20:11 November 2020 ISSN 1930-2940 Editors: Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D. B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D. A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D. G. Baskaran, Ph.D. T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D. Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D. Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D. Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D. Contents Aliya Shahnoor Ameen From Rooted to Uprooted: An Environmental Apocalypse in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies 1-8 Anne Varghese, PhD (Linguistics) and Prema K. S. Rao, PhD (Speech & Hearing) Token Test - A Screening Tool For Children With Reading Disability 9-22 Bithi Mojumder, Rubaiyan Asif, and Fatema Akter Charulata as an Adaptation of ‘Nastanirh’: Satyajit Ray’s Craftsmanship in the Recreation of Tagore’s Work on Celluloid 23-31 David Lagachu, M.A., UGC NET Revisiting Simone de Beauvoir’s Defense of Female Sexuality in Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome 32-37 Dr. Sheeba Azhar, M.A., PhD (English) and Dr. Syed Abid Ali Recurring Motif of Toru Dutt’s Poetry: The Quest for Identity and the Sense of Loss 38-48 ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 20:11 November 2020 Contents i Dr. Lovely John Menachery Using Needs Analysis to Design a Student Centric English Curriculum for Engineering Students 49-58 Dr. Melissa G. Wallang Deafness and a Village Sign Language Community in Meghalaya 59-72 N. Vijayan, Ph.D. and N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D. Discourse Analysis of Seven Brothers and their Sister – A Story of Eravalla, a Dravidian Tribal Community 73-97 Joy Das, M.A., NET Reconnoitring the Conflict between Good and Evil in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies 98-103 Patience Obiageri Solomon-Etefia and Samuel Edem Language, Action Negotiation in Lassa Fever Health Discourse in Nigeria 104-123 Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Tagore, the Home and the World
    Rabindranath Tagore’s Ghare Baire (Bengali, 1915) / The Home and the World (1919) EN123, Modern World Literatures Lecture: Week 1, Term 2 Dr. Divya Rao ([email protected]) Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) • Man of Letters, Nobel Prize (1913) • Modernist | Humanist | Internationalist • Viswa Bharati University (1921) – a radical experiment in education • Benevolent Paternalist: elite, upper-caste, upper-class Bengali family; landed gentry that combined traditional zamindari (‘landlordism’) with modern education and progressive ideals and politics • Renounced knighthood in the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919) The Indian Empire in 1907. From Charles Joppen, Historical Atlas of India for the Use of High Schools, Colleges, & Private Students (London, Longmans, Green & Co., 1907), No. 26. [Source: Wikipedia] Partition of Bengal in 1905. The western part (Bengal) gained parts of Odisha, the eastern part (Eastern Bengal and Assam) regained Assam that had been made a separate province in 1874 Historical Context • 1905, Lord Curzon’s Partition of Bengal (‘divide and rule’) • The crystallisation of Hindu- Muslim communal division: which sets off a series of major historical repercussions thereafter (and felt even today) • 1905-1908: Swadeshi movement—sees both reformists and revolutionaries; moderates and extremists • Boycott of foreign goods; emphasis on economic self- reliance The Home and the World (‘Ghare Baire’) • 1915-1916: appears in the serialised form in avant- garde journal Sabuj Patra (‘Green Leaves’) • 1919: translated into English by Tagore’s nephew (in consultation with Tagore) Surendranath Tagore • Intersections of: Home | Nation | World with that of Tradition | Modernity • Colloquial Cholito-bhasha (‘running language’) preferred to Sanskritised Sadhu-bhasha (‘uptight language’) Influences on the Novel • Auguste Comte (1798-1857): French philosopher and social scientist; formulated the doctrine of positivism.
    [Show full text]
  • 2-Minute W-5(26 April -1 May)
    2-Mi nu te Series A compilation of foundational topics prerequisite for Civil Services For the 5th Week of April 2021 (26th April to 1st May) Visit our website www.sleepyclasses.com or our YouTube channel for entire GS Course FREE of cost Also Available: Prelims Crash Course || Prelims Test Series T.me/SleepyClasses Table of Contents 1. Geography ............................................................................................................................1 1.1.Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) ...................................................................................1 2. History .................................................................................................................................2 2.1.Rabindranath Tagore .......................................................................................................................2 3. Polity & Governance .......................................................................................................4 3.1.What is Model Code of Conduct? ................................................................................................4 4. Economy ................................................................................................................................6 4.1.Harmonized System of Nomenclature Code .............................................................................6 5. Environment & Ecology .................................................................................................8 5.1.Great Indian Bustard
    [Show full text]
  • East Versus West: a Reflection of Cultural Conflicts in Rabindranath Tagore's the Home and the World
    www.the-criterion.com The Criterion [email protected] An International Journal in English ISSN 0976-8165 East versus West: A Reflection of Cultural Conflicts in Rabindranath Tagore’s The Home and the World Dr. Md. Sahidul Islam Department of English Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh–202002, U.P. India’s indigenous culture has great significance so far as the cultural identity of the country in its fiction in English is concerned. It was treated as one of the major themes in Indian fiction in English during the reign of the British Empire in India. Though, there was a hindrance on the part of the writers of the period to deal with the indigenous practices and cultural forms in their literary works due to utter confusion, they had not succumbed to the situation. They tried their best to maintain the Indian values in their works. Rabindranath Tagore is one of the prominent authors of pre-colonial India. Like many other writers, Tagore too had dealt with the theme of indigenous culture during that period. The author’s The Home and the World (1915; translated into English in 1985) is of major concern in this study. However, his other prominent works like Gora (Fair-Faced) and Gitanjali (Song Offerings) published in 1910 and 1912 respectively are also remarkable in this regard. He had pursued it and became successful to a great extent in fulfilling his commitment in depicting the Indian values. As a result, the Indian English Literature is sated with nativistic images in the writings of the pre-colonial era. Great affinity of the Indian writers towards Indian value system and their ceaseless attempt of portraying it is evident in their works.
    [Show full text]
  • Rabindranath Tagore and the Politics of Imagination: Nation, Gender, and Global Justice Esha Niyogi De University of California, Los Angeles
    Rabindranath Tagore and the Politics of Imagination: Nation, Gender, and Global Justice Esha Niyogi De University of California, Los Angeles Abstract: This paper focuses on Tagore’s increasing activism and his bid to persuade his readers in his later works of the importance of thinking globally and abandoning exclusionary perspectives. It shows how he strove in his writing to alter mentalities underlying the politics of domination and division in the world he lived in. The paper also attempts to draw out the implications of his critical approach to imagination and emotion and the way he used emotion-and affect- enhancing literature to oppose divisive and instrumental attitudes and to bring people together by transcending nation or gender divisions. While Rabindranath Tagore is well-recognized in South Asian Studies circles and in the mainstream as an aesthete or even a mystic, he is alleged to have increasingly distanced himself from the pressing political issues of his day. Notably, he is thought to have become uninvolved with the struggle against the colonizer. Disagreeing with this position, I argue that Tagore moved by way of an active engagement in the Indian freedom struggle into thinking more globally about how to change exclusionary attitudes. He sought to alter mentalities underlying the politics of domination and division in his world—i.e., of the subordination of some people, races, lands and resources by other groups. As I show below, it is the critical approach Tagore took to imagination and emotion that offers lessons about global activism relevant even today. My claim is that, later in his intellectual life, Tagore increasingly came to hold the position that, unless the divisive viewpoints and emotions underlying the hierarchies of nation, empire, and capital could be changed, one power structure invariably would replace another in the course of world historical tussles.
    [Show full text]
  • Barrenness and Bengali Cinema
    1 “May You Be the Mother of A Hundred Sons!”: Barrenness vs. Motherhood in Bengali Cinema” Somdatta Mandal Department of English & Other Modern European Languages Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan Borrowing from the recently published novel The Palace of Illusions, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s reimagining of the world-famous epic Mahabharata, let me begin with a well-known story. “Gandhari’s marriage, although she’d given up so much for its sake, was – like Kunti’s – not a happy one. Dhritarashtra was a bitter man. He never got over the fact that he’d been passed over by the elders – just because he was blind – when they decided which of the brothers should be king… The goal of Dhritarashtra’s life was to have a son who could inherit the throne after him. But here a problem arose, for in spite of his assiduous attempts Gandhari didn’t conceive for many years. When she finally did, it was too late. Kunti was already pregnant with Judhisthir. A year came. A year went. Yudhisthir was born. As the first male child of the next generation, the elders declared, the throne would be his. Dhritarashtra’s spies brought more bad news. Kunti was pregnant again. Now there were two obstacles between Dhritarashtra and his desire. Gandhari’s stomach grew large as a giant beehive, but her body refused to go into labor. Perhaps the frustrated king berated her, or perhaps the fact that he’d taken one of her waiting women as his mistress drove Gandhari to her act of desperation. She struck her stomach again and again until she bled, and bleeding gave birth to a huge, unformed ball of flesh.
    [Show full text]